It’s called the Death Race, and although the name is ominous, for several local Jasperites, it’s all in a day’s work.

Dave MacDowell will be running his third Death Race in Grand Cache, Alta., on July 31. The 125-kilometre extreme running race takes runners up and over three different feats and through intense mountain terrain. 

“It’s a really rugged course,” MacDowell said. “This is probably the biggest trail running event on the continent.”

Solo or teams of between two and five compete for, well, nothing. There is no prize money, but the bragging rights last forever. In some years the winners have been given a small amount of cash, but the emphasis is on finishing, and being able to say you’ve done it. 

MacDowell will be running the 20-kilometre leg four of the race on Team Wild Mountain, made up of five people along with his wife, Wendy Niven (leg one, 19 km), Mike D’Antonio (leg two, 27 km), Richard Ireland (leg four, 38 km) and Todd Wolansky (leg five, 24 km). 

While some might see the race as a daunting task, MacDowell is fully prepared, and would be out on local trails even if he was not doing the Death Race. 

“If we weren’t in this race, we’d be out running,” he said. “I’ve always done that.”

That means the ‘training’ MacDowell has had to do was already part of his lifestyle. He spends his spare time running up Old Man Mountain, or along the Skyline trails. 

“It’s constant, that’s why we live here,” he said of his running. “Life for us is training.”

MacDowell first got involved with the Death Race when title sponsor North Face asked him if he would like to put in a team. MacDowell is co-owner of Wild Mountain on Patricia St, which features North Face products. 

Last year Team Wild Mountain managed to come in first, and MacDowell said it was a complete surprise. 

“It was a real horse race there at the end,” he said. The team finished at 11:52:48, just two minutes ahead of the second place team. 

MacDowell and his team lead the final three legs, but were closely followed the entire way. 

Team Wild Mountain isn’t all about winning, though. MacDowell said they were genuinely surprised to get first place honours, and would have settled for any position. 

“You’re not running to win or lose. You’re running for the people on your team,” he said. 

This year MacDowell expects the competition to be tougher. 

“We probably will get crushed this year,” he said. 

No matter what the outcome is, the team is there to have fun most of all, not defend their 2009 title. 

“We’re doing it because we love doing it,” MacDowell said. “It doesn’t matter if we win or lose. As long as everybody has a great run, that’s what we’re all about.”

What the team does want to accomplish is simply to give everything they have, and finish knowing they couldn’t have done anymore. 

Also competing in the Death Race is Thea Mitchell. She will be running leg five on a team with Amanda Schultz, Dawn Glover, Kate Godsell and Kara Hagedorn, and has only a few goals for her first Death Race.

“If all goes well I won’t be running in the dark,” she said. 

Mitchell has run half-marathons before, but this will be her first time running a competitive trail run. 

“It’s going to be a challenge,” she said. 

Having attended the Death Race training camp in June, however, Mitchell said Jasper is the perfect place to train.

“It became clear that we live in the right area to train for something like this,” she said. 

Mitchell and her team aren’t looking for first place, but would like to finish with no injuries or setbacks. “I always say that we want to finish in style,” she said.